Discussion

Food you are ashamed to say you like!

Okay. I admitted I like certain kinds of commercial junk food, like Doritos, and that I like Egg Foo Young and other gloppy americanized chinese food basics (hey, man cannot live on authentic Hong Kong-style dim sum and fancy taiwanese food). I figured this was a good topic to start for people to vent in.

No, no , no WAY is cream cheese and salami Ashekenazi!At the risk of a huge generalization I have found that most of the folks I've encountered who combine cream cheese and salami also like the combo of corned beef and ketchup. Or corned beef and mayo and most definitely not of Ashkenazi descent.

But it was always Hebrew National salami, and you can't say cream cheese isn't ashkenazi! Really, it's the same theory as cream cheese and lox. Also, I was wondering about the sour cream on rice thing.

Clearly these are foods you would find in a household with eastern-european jewish roots - so it could be natural to combine them - but the hebrew national (beef) salami - creamcheese combo is hardly "orthodox".

Yes, very true. But salami/cream cheese is not remotely Ashkenazi anyway you look at it. Now, the rice/sour cream combo wouldn't surprise me at all. Sour cream went on just about everything at my grandparent's. And the rice with sour cream would have been likely to have had fresh dill on it as well.

my kids called the celery with PB and raisins lined up on it "ants on a log". An antique kid fave, in the same category as s'mores. The refinement of chunky vs. creamy doesn't enter in in the ur-recipe.

Speaking of cheese spreads, I think one of my favorite pre-dinner foods (not really an appetizer or hors d'oevure (sp?)) is half a block of Philly cream cheese covered in jalapeno jelly, and served with Ritz (or Triscuit, or etc.). Oh, yeah. Definitely a favorite. Give it a try.

Vinegar and spicey foods like those big jars of pickled eggs, pickled pigs' feet, and pickled sausage one finds on the bar in taverns. They encourage a great thirst. And then you can quaff it with lots of beer. p

Really, Pat? You've eaten those pickled things at the bar? I've never met anyone brave enough to actually try them. In fact, I wasn't so sure if they were really edible, or just props for show. Is there flavor beyond pickled? I'm curious.

Yep, it's real food. I've only ever seen the pickled "flavor". The little fat sausages are the best of the three, very vinegary and peppery hot. But there's so much sodium in these snacks, I find I can't get my rings off the next day! I do pickle my own eggs from time to time and once even attempted pigs feet. The eggs are great, the trotters a disaster. pat